pirate ship... live!
sunday,
20.00–22.00
Comedian and actor Vic Reeves presents a special two-hour programme telling the story of the Whydah– a pirate ship that sank off Cape Cod nearly 300 years ago. A dive on the wreck – the only authenticated wreck of a pirate vessel in the world – forms the live element of the programme, while specially shot dramatic reconstructions tell the story of notorious pirate captain Black Sam Bellamy and his crew. Joining Vic will be copresenter June Sarpong who will link between the dive action and the onshore revelations.
In a unique TV experiment, marine archaeologists in Cape Cod plan to dive on the wreck and salvage pirate booty live on air. Barry Clifford and his team hope to bring viewers real treasure recovered from an unexplored area of the wreck that appears to contain masses of mineralized objects.
Just as the divers were closing down their operation for winter last year, they stumbled across a section of the wreck set apart from the previously dived areas. They believe they have finally discovered the famously documented “mother lode” of treasure –wooden chests hidden between the ship’s decks containing hundreds of bags of coins, ingots, ivory and jewels. These treasures are mentioned in the accounts of Peter Hoof, a pirate who survived the wreck. He tells of the “money which was counted over in the cabin and put up in bags –50 pounds [weight] to every man’s share.”
The fact that the Whydahlay untouched under 20 feet of sand for so long means that it is the only ‘time capsule’ of pirate history ever found. In the months before the ship sank in 1717, the pirate crew looted 54 other ships and stored their treasures, leaving an unprecedented cross section of 18th-century cultural material –and an almost unimaginable task of excavation. Pirate Ship... Live! will follow the experts as they X-ray the mysterious concretions brought up from the seabed which could contain anything from human bones to gold dust.
Through a mixture of live broadcast from the dive site, dramatic reconstructions and CGI technology, Pirate Ship... Live! will flow between the modernday adventures of the archaeologists and scientists, and those of the formidable Black Sam Bellamy and his lawless pirate crew.
Anonymous
although i didnt enjoy the presenting of this show, i thought the actor playing Black Sam Bellamy was brilliant and fitted the role perfectly, who is he?Brian Bellamy
HI I like to find out if there is going to be any show talking about pirate Black Sam Bellamy, his crew and his ship Whydah thanks
dave
I missed a lot of the prog. but I would like to know more about the Masonic plate and any thing else relating to Freemasonry or Templars
Anonymous
With different presenters this could have been a fairly interesting programme, even though it was obvious from the start that not much of great interest was likely to be brought to the surface during the course of the programme. June ('WOW!') Sarpong offered little other than exclamations. She could have shown more interest in the actual objects, allowed the viewer to see them in detail and anticipated some of the questions viewers were likely to be asking. Vic ('what's happening now?') Reeves was worse - if that's possible - asking the same question several times, not listening to the answers, talking when he should have just let the images speak for themselves, and generally looking all at sea. Celebrity is no substitute when it comes to presenting this kind of programme.
Anonymous
Can anyone please tell me if and when this programme will be repeated? I’m so angry I missed it. I’ve looked up Channel 5's TV listings for the coming week in the hope that it might be repeated (obviously not live) but they don’t appear to be screening it again. I simply didn’t know it was on until I stumbled upon it at about 9.45 channel hoping, by that time it was near over. Please reply if anyone has any info to my question, thank you.
Anonymous
What about that x-ray?! It was so clear. It's amazing what they can do these days. Those x-ray guys really know what they're doing!
mandy
pieces of eight was the name for the spanish dollar around the 18th century which was made up of eight reals,it was one of the more sort after currencys.
NAOMI RICHARDSON
MY 5 YEAR OLD SON AS FACINATED WITH THIS PROGARM, ALTHOUGH HE WAS EXTREAMLY DISSOPOINTED THAT THEY COULD NOT GET THE CANNONS OUT OF THE SEA, THEY ALL SEEMED REALY CLULESS ABOUT WHAT COULD ACTUALLY BE ACHIVED FOR THE PROGRAM.
Anonymous
Super porgramme, but why on earth did the production team select Vic and June. They put a damp squid on the show !!!!!!!
Annetta
the expert speaking to June the presenter earlier, was about to explain why the coins where called "pieces of eight" but never got round to it. Can anyone explain?
annetta
yes this does seem reasonable as the freemasons emblem was etched onto the pewter plate
phil brookshaw
the scull and cross bones was the maritime flag of the nights teplar, as can be seen at rosslyn chapel in scotland,there are several head stones with this emblem on them,that i think is where i think the jolly roger probably came fromm they adopted it, it seemed appropriate i suppose.
Anonymous
I agree with this why is the presenter not wearing gloves surly she should be.
Annetta
Great show, amazing discovery.
Why is it though that the presenter June isn't wearing gloves when she handles the precious artifacts, the experts do!!!!!!! and so should she.
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